1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In the image recording apparatuses such as electrophotographic printers, copying machines, facsimile machines and MFP, more specifically, for example in a color printer, a plural image forming sections are disposed side by side and each image forming section forms a toner image of an individual color such as black, yellow magenta and cyan. Each toner image formed on a surface of a photosensitive drum in each image forming section is transferred sequentially onto a print medium fed by a transfer belt equipped as consumables, resulting in a formation of a color toner image. Then, the print medium on which the color toner image was formed is fed to a fusing device in order for the toner image to be fused on the print medium, resulting in appearing the color image.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating main sections of conventional printers.
In FIG. 2, 11 denotes an apparatus body including side plates 14 and 15 placed at a front side and a rear side of the printer respectively in a manner facing to each other. 16 denotes an image forming section placed detachably to apparatus body 11. Image forming unit 16 includes frame 18, image forming sections 12Bk, 12Y, 12M and 12C disposed detachably to frame 18 and in parallel with each other, and LED heads which are not shown but disposed next to each of image forming sections 12Bk, 12Y, 12M and 12C. Each of image forming sections 12Bk, 12Y, 12M and 12C has a photosensitive drum, a charging roller, a developing roller, cleaning blade and the like.
Frame 18 includes frame 18a of a square shape and a pair of handles 18b and 18c so formed that the handles stand upright at two sides of frame 18a, such that a user can set frame 18 to apparatus body 11 by holding handles 18b and 18c and can also remove the frame from apparatus body 11.
17 denotes a transfer unit disposed detachably to apparatus body 11 immediately below frame 18. Transfer unit 17 includes a driving roller and a driven roller which are not shown, conveyer belt 20 stretched in a freely driving manner between the driving roller and the driven roller, and transfer rollers, not shown, disposed opposing to each of the photosensitive drums within conveyer belt 20.
Here, when frame 18 and transfer unit 17 are set on apparatus body 11, each photosensitive drum and each transfer roller are press-fit to each other through conveyer belt 20, and therefore, upon rotation of the photosensitive drums and running of conveyer belt 20, a print medium which is not shown here is conveyed by conveyer belt 20. During which time, toner images of individual colors formed by each of image forming sections 12Bk, 12Y, 12M and 12C are transferred onto the print medium by the transfer roller piece by piece.
In the printer having the above stated construction, when paper-jamming occurs while the print medium is conveyed along each of image forming sections 12Bk, 12Y, 12M and 12C, the user is required to open a cover of the printer, pick up frame 18 by holding handles 18b and 18c and move the frame outside apparatus body 11 in order to remove the print medium jammed in apparatus body 11 to thereby recover the paper-jamming condition. See the Japanese Patent Laying-Open Publication No. 08-54817.
However, each of image forming sections 12Bk, 12Y, 12M and 12C according to the conventional printer is heavy in weight, such that there is a troublesome in recovering the paper-jamming condition since there is a difficulty in picking up frame 18 as well as an extra space is required outside apparatus body 11 for temporarily placing frame 18.
In view of the problems described above, a purpose of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of simplifying a task to recover paper-jamming condition, resolving the problems of the conventional printer.